Stepfather of teen accused in South Pasadena mass shooting plot speaks out

PASADENA >> The stepfather of one of two boys accused of threatening to kill teachers and students at South Pasadena High School said his child was non-violent and was a good student.

Vicke Bazerkanian, step-father of the 16-year-old linked to online threats against the school made his remarks outside a courtroom where the boy entered the equivalent of a not guilty plea to making criminal threats.

“Our son wasn’t trying to kill the whole school,” Bazerkanian said. “He had no intention of going to the school and actually harming the people he loved.”

On Aug. 16, the South Pasadena teenagers threatened to kill another teen in a mass shooting, Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Lewis said in a statement.

Because the teens are being charged as juveniles, their names won’t be released. The teens were arrested Monday on suspicion of criminal threats and conspiracy. They planned to kill three teachers and “as many people as possible” in an averted mass shooting at South Pasadena High School, South Pasadena Police Chief Arthur Miller said.

South Pasadena Unified School District notified police about the alleged mass shooting scheme on Aug. 14. Authorities conducted online surveillance via social media, obtained warrants and arrested the teens in their homes Monday -- three days before the first day of school.

It was not immediately clear when the alleged mass shooting would happen, Miller said.

The teenagers mainly communicated through Skype, an online chatting and calling tool, Detective Bill Early said.